1. Field
Example aspects of the present invention generally relate to mass transit fare collection systems, and more particularly to leveraging such collection systems to utilize financial transaction devices.
2. Related Art
Regular commuters as well as infrequent mass transit riders would like the convenience of not requiring a separate payment device for paying transit fares. Particularly in today's “plastic economy”, riders are anxious to use their financial transaction cards, such as credit cards, to make instant fare payments as with any other category of purchase.
Typically, authorization of a financial transaction occurs online which allows a financial transaction card issuer to verify that suitable credit or funds are available before the purchase is completed. Offline authorizations are also used by issuers if they have an intelligent payment device that is able to determine risk and provide authorization to the merchant to approve a purchase transaction. In addition, mass transit operators typically use prepaid financial instruments to allow access through gates and use proprietary technology that is not conventionally used by financial issuers/processors.